By BRETT R. CROSSLEY For the Webb Weekly DANVILLE—An injury last season deprived Danville and its fans of a complete season worth of 6-5 standout Dyson Harward. Despite missing an entire season, Harward has looked good to start the season, quickly making up for lost time. He has been one of the team’s top scorers,

By BRETT R. CROSSLEY

For the Webb Weekly

DANVILLE—An injury last season deprived Danville and its fans of a complete season worth of 6-5 standout Dyson Harward.

Despite missing an entire season, Harward has looked good to start the season, quickly making up for lost time. He has been one of the team’s top scorers, it’s top rebounder, and, most importantly, has it off to a great start.

“Last year the difference was we had Jordan Bickhart,” Danville coach Lenny Smith said. “We replaced Jordan with Dyson and because of his height we can gamble a lot more out front on defense and he can clean up the mess. He blocked a lot of shots and changed a lot of shots for them.”

Harward finished with 15 points and 15 boards for Danville as it knocked off Loyalsock 66-58 in front of a loud crowd packed with students. It was Loyalsock’s first loss of the season, but it won’t be one the Lancers will get a chance to dwell on long as they welcome in Southern Columbia Friday night. Danville will travel to Shamokin Friday.

As for Wednesday’s contest that featured two of the Heartland Conferences’ best teams, Danville proved to have just a bit more in the tank as the fourth quarter came around. Loyalsock’s normally dominant press started to break as Danville pushed the ball up quickly for baskets in the paint.

Shane Kozick took full advantage of the quick pace as he scored eight of his 14 points over the final two quarters of the game.

“We knew Loyalsock could get hot at any time. They are a great team,” Kozick said. “Fourth quarter we knew we had to control their shooters. We were able to control the clock a little bit and control the ball and it resulted in a quality win for us.”

Kozick scored six points in the third quarter as Danville started to pull away. Once the Ironmen were able to break the Lancers’ press, they started to build a lead Loyalsock couldn’t overcome.

“They tried to speed us up, but I think we handled it well,” Kozick said. “We moved the ball well and we didn’t turn it over much in the second half. It was affective for us to get the ball down the court.”

It was a much different game in the first half when Loyalsock turned Danville over 12 times. The Ironmen were still able to score 33 points over the first two quarters, but Loyalsock matched as it received a combined five threes from Gerald Ross and Aiden Gair.

Ross, who was named to the All-Tournament team during State College’s Holiday Tournament, scored 17 points, including six in the first quarter. Gair, who led the team with 25 points, had 15 points in the first half, but missed five of his final nine shots from the floor.

“We just tried to get them in an up-tempo game, but they had an excellent game plan and just didn’t rattle easy,” Loyalsock coach Ron “CI” Insinger said. “We’ve had success all the way through to tonight with that press, but kudos to Danville for the great preparation.”

Bam Brima finished with 12 rebounds, but outside of Ross and Gair Loyalsock’s offense, which was without two main bench contributors, only scored 16 points.

BRETT R. CROSSLEY/FOR THE WEBB WEEKLYLoyalsock’s teams stands together during a timeout at Danville.

BRETT R. CROSSLEY/FOR THE WEBB WEEKLYLoyalsock’s Gerald Ross drives to the basket during a game against Danville.

BRETT R. CROSSLEY/FOR THE WEBB WEEKLYLoyalsock’s Aiden Gair goes in for a layup over a defender during a game against Danville. Gair finished with 25 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Ironmen pulled away in the second half for a 66-58 win.

BRETT R. CROSSLEY/FOR THE WEBB WEEKLYLoyalsock’s Gerald Ross drives to the basket during a game against Danville. Ross scored 17 points, but Danville was able to pull away for a 66-58 win.

BRETT R. CROSSLEY/FOR THE WEBB WEEKLYLoyalsock’s Rees Watkins brings a ball up the court after a turnover by Danville.

BRETT R. CROSSLEY/FOR THE WEBB WEEKLYLoyalsock’s Idris Ali gets ready to play defense during the fourth quarter of a game against Danville.